Mindfulness in psychological practices has somewhat different meanings and applications. There have been several different types of mindful cognitive therapy developed over the years. They are designed to help ease depression by cultivating mindfulness and practicing meditation.

Mindfulness therapy uses a combination of cognitive psychological therapy with mindfulness meditation. This is where the patient is guided to direct their focus on the present moment. If the patient’s thoughts drift, they are taught to bring the focus back to the present. Anything that occurred before the thoughts drifted is noted by the therapist so that help can be targeted to specific emotions or perceptions.
Some therapists including the ones at www.psytherapy.co.uk will implement a regiment that includes yoga movement, walking or sitting and becoming aware of the present moment. They may help the patient by giving them verbal cues to help them control their breathing and take note of any sensations they feel. They may do a body scan meditation with the patient to help specify where tension or depression are being held in the body.

This practice can be very revealing about what is causing depressing thoughts to recur. The patient might also undergo a guided imagery meditation. This will help the patient deal with day to day stresses and problems that they will encounter in everyday life. These exercises are good for introducing the person to the fact that problems will arise in life. These problems do not, however, have to derail a person’s progress in overcoming depression.

The biggest benefit of mindfulness therapy is that it can be done without medications. While some therapists may require a patient to try certain medications depending on the initial severity of their depression, they may be able to continue treatment using mindfulness and thereby preventing their patient from having to go through uncomfortable side effects.